


Exceeding Expectations

by tptigger



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Jungle Fury, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: Gen, R.J. has feelings about his reputation ok?, R.J. is not psychic, zord building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 10:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2146986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/pseuds/tptigger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cam gets a call for help with making Power Ranger morphers from the last person he would expect to be Power Ranger material.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exceeding Expectations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hagar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/gifts).



> For Hagar. I hope you don't mind the addition of Billy and Hayley to your prompt. Many thanks to PockySquirrel for the beta!

Cam closed his compiler in frustration, debating whether he should get on the web or just go do something else entirely.  Freelance coding wasn't the worst thing in the world, but he found, oddly, that he actually wanted a little more human interaction once in awhile.  Still, it beat unemployment.

Cam's phone rang and he glanced at the caller ID: it wasn't a number that either he or his phone recognized.  He really hoped this was someone looking to hire him and not someone wanting to sell him something.  "Hello?"

"Hi, Cam, it's R.J. Finn."

Cam frowned.  Not a job call, but he wasn't sure if this was better or worse than a sales call.  Why was the hippy dippy son of one of the kung fu school masters masters that his dad liaised with sometimes calling him?  "Um, hi, R.J.  Don't tell me your dad is still dragging you to the annual martial arts school conference?"

They had been conference survival buddies, but the one time that they'd spent any time together outside of that, namely at MIT, had been a disaster of epic proportions.

R.J. laughed nervously.  "What?  No.  I'm away from home too.  It's just, do you remember that party when we met up in college?"

Disaster. Of. Epic. Proportions.  "Not as much as I'd like."  Everyone had sworn that Cam had been eating the regular brownies that R.J. had brought, but the gap in his memory accompanied by an empty jumbo size bag of potato chips on the floor when he woke up seemed to tell a different story.

"Um, right." R.J.'s voice was hesitant.  He was the one who had brought it up!  "Anyway, do you remember when you said you could design Power Ranger morphers?"

Cam gulped.  There were many, many things that he would put past R.J., but taking advantage of a Ranger team?  He wasn't sure about that one.  "Vaguely.  Why?"

"Wanna try?"

Cam was glad he wasn't drinking anything, his computer would've been toast.  Needing a Power Ranger team?  Or maybe just wanting one? 

"This is not an over the phone conversation," Cam said.  Too much chance of someone listening in.  "Where are you these days?"

"Ocean Bluff."

"Hmm," Cam thought out loud.  "That's a long way from Blue Bay Harbor."

"There's a pizza place in Beacon County I've been meaning to check out, want to meet in Beacon Bluffs?"

"That works."  Cam figured that food coming from a restaurant should be relatively safe.  "Saturday noon?"

"See you there," R.J. said.  "I'll find you and e-mail you the address?"

"Dunbar Pizza on Main?" Cam asked.

"How..."

"Google is my friend." Cam hung up. 

* * *

Cam was surveying the menu when R.J. slipped into the seat across from him.  The dark hair and stubble was the same as always, but Cam couldn't recall ever seeing such a serious look on R.J.'s face.  His mouth was drawn and his eyebrows were furrowed.

Whatever R.J. wanted the morphers for, it wasn't a lark.

"If we didn't have a serious discussion ahead of us, I'd offer to buy you a beer," Cam said.

"You're the one doing me a huge favor," R.J. said.  "I agree that the beer's a bad idea, but lunch is on me."  He opened the menu and frowned.  "This is their idea of specials?"

Cam blinked.

"Besides the oncoming storm, I'm also opening my own pizza place; I wanted to check out the competition.  These are just boring."

"Kind of a long drive to be competing with Ocean Bluff," Cam said.

"Destination pizza is kind of a thing with the local college kids," R.J. said.  "Owing largely to the dearth of local pizza places: just a Domino's.  If this is my competition, though, I'm going to blow them away and not just because of the price of gas."

"You do realize that serving weed is illegal?"

R.J. smacked his forehead with his palm.  "For the last time, Marcus spiked the punch and you were eating regular brownies.  They were ALL regular brownies!  I don't actually use that stuff, I'm just kind of naturally mellow and everyone assumes!  And I found when I was at the Pai Zhuq Academy that if I let them assume, they didn't treat me like a teacher's pet just because one of the teachers was my father!"

Cam's jaw dropped.

"Pai Zhuq is a way of life and it doesn't include drugs. I just got tired of everyone thinking I was a stick in the mud because my dad was a teacher, so after awhile I just quit denying it and let people assume."

Cam blinked.  "And I thought my experience at the Academy was nuts."

"I went to school with the rest of the Pai Zhuq students too.  If..."

"Say no more.  Either you find a way to differentiate yourself from your dad _fast_ or you're forever branded the teacher's pet for the high crime of being his offspring."

"And after Mom... well, you know."

"We should change the subject before you lose it in front of your soon to be competition," Cam said.  Or he lost it.  Whichever.

"So, what do we actually want on our pizza?" R.J. asked.

"No pineapple," Cam said.

R.J. looked over the combinations.  "All boring.  I'm going to destroy this place.  You choose."

"Sausage and pepperoni?" Cam asked, grinning widely.

R.J. raised an eyebrow at him.

"How about green peppers and extra cheese?"

"Done," R.J. said.

As if right on cue, the waiter appeared to take their order.

"So morphers," R.J. said after the waiter went to take their order to the kitchen.

Cam looked around.  

"No one within earshot if we keep our voice down," R.J. said.  "Give me a little credit.  I know identities are supposed to be kept secret."

"What makes you think I know how to make Power Rangers morphers?"

"You said you could," R.J. said.

"If I could, why would I give them to you?"

R.J. raised an eyebrow.  "I think we both know that our dads' marital arts skills aren't exactly what they teach down the street at Tracy's Karate."

"Yeah, and?"

"I'm a Pai Zhuq Master.  Where there's a great evil prophesized to return.  I just learned that if that evil escapes and something happens to Master Mao, I'm the back-up plan."

Cam frowned. "So Master Mao is looking for Power Morphers?"

R.J. shook his head.  "Master Mao is one of the best Masters of Pai Zhuq and pretty flexible-- he trusted me after all-- but even he is very wedded to tradition.  He'll try to beat evil that uses magic, might, and monsters with only bare hands and fighting spirits.  He feels Power Rangers are dishonorable.  I feel the opposite: from what I've learned the codes are compatible.  We need to be open to every honorable tool at our disposal when it comes to protecting the world."

Cam raised his eyebrows.  "You know the Ranger code."

R.J. nodded.  "One of the Space Rangers... the Red one..."

"Andros,' Cam prompted.

"I think that was his name.  He posted it on News back in the day, and I came across it when I was researching Power Rangers--not that there's much information that's public.  He said it was: The Power is only for defense.  Never escalate a battle unless the enemy forces you to.  Keep your identities as Power Rangers a secret.  We'll leave out the irony of one of the Space Rangers posting that last one."

Cam chuckled.  "We'll leave the Lightspeed and Overdrive teams out as well."

R.J. raised an eyebrow.  "I never would have pegged you..."  Cam brought a finger to his lips.  "Rule three," he admonished.

The waiter delivered their pizza.

They dug into the food.  Once R.J. saw that the waiter was safely out of earshot, he continued.  "So can you help me?"

"Probably, but not on my own.  Remember Hayley Ziktor from school?"

"Seriously?" R.J. asked. "Ziktor? I mean, she's a whiz with computers, but..."

"Seriously.  There's one other person, but you don't know him.  You're probably going to have to come to one of our places-- we don't have the tools anywhere else."

"O.K." R.J. sagged with relief.

He guessed that R.J. hadn't run into one of the less official parts of the Ranger code: always offer assistance when possible.

"I'll talk to them and get back to you, but keep in mind that we won't be able to help you without knowing things about your Pai Zhuq methods."

"Noted."

They ate in silence for a couple minutes.

"Is Hayley still dating that jock of a Paleo major?" R.J. asked.  "What was his name?  Timmy?"

Cam choked on his pizza, sputtering with laughter.

* * *

Cam had nearly called the whole thing off when he'd contacted Billy and Hayley over the secure Ranger tech support server that Billy had set up and they realized that the most convenient spot for himself, Billy, Hayley, and R.J. to meet was Hayley's workshop.  Admittedly, from a standpoint of the job they had to do, it made the most sense: in a lot of ways Hayley's was the best equipped--while Cam and Billy were officially retired, Tommy had a weird habit of getting dragged back in even when he thought he was out.

Which was the actual problem: Hayley's workshop was under her house.  More precisely, her and her fiancé's house.  Tommy's house.  Tommy and R.J. mixed like baking soda and vinegar. Cam had brought this up, and Hayley had made a comment about making Tommy promise to stay upstairs and that the needs of the many, etc.

As such, they met at Hayley and Tommy's house.  Cam arrived, seeing only the cars he recognized as Tommy's and Hayley's, and knocked.

Hayley opened the door and raised an eyebrow at him.  "Seriously? It was unlocked!"

"I thought that privilege was reserved for teammates."

"And close friends, ding bat," Hayley said, giving him a hug.

"Where's Tommy?" Cam asked.  Tommy wasn't his favorite person, but things were much better between them now than when they were in college.  He strongly suspected it was because Trini had finally knocked the overprotectiveness out of Tommy, but Cam wasn't going to ask.

"Upstairs digging himself out of a mountain of grading," Hayley said.  "I think he's been procrastinating all week as an excuse to avoid R.J. without _looking_ like he's avoiding R.J."

"You say this like it's a bad thing."  Cam rubbed the bridge of his nose.  "Don't knock it."

"Hi, guys," Billy said, opening the door and coming through.

"See," Hayley said, glaring at Cam and giving Billy a hug.

"Tommy's hiding from this new guy already?" Billy asked, glancing around.

"Go on up and say 'hi' if you dare," Hayley replied.  "He left himself a mountain of grading and he's in a Mood."

Billy chuckled, then went upstairs.  Cam heard a loud thud followed by Tommy yelling, "Damnit, Cranston!"

"Something to drink?" Hayley asked serenely.

There was a quiet knock at the door.

Hayley opened it. "R.J.!  Sheesh, if Cam and I hadn't been standing _right here_ we never would have heard you.  How are things?  I haven't seen you since school.  How'd that environmental company thing work out?"

"Belly up.  I'm starting my own pizza parlor.  You still working for your uncle?"

Hayley shook her head.  "I got tired of being beholden to The Man, especially when the Man is my uncle, so I started my own Cyber Cafe awhile back.  We'll have to talk tips after we get the Ranger Business squared away."

R.J. grinned awkwardly.  "I'd appreciate that."

Billy bounded down the stairs.  "Excellent!  We're all here.  Billy Cranston." He extended his hand to R.J.

R.J. took it.  "R.J. Finn."

Billy raised an eyebrow at that and Cam wondered just what Hayley had told Billy in order to get him to come.  Billy probably knew R.J. by reputation from Tommy and Trini: and it wouldn't be complementary.  Heck, Cam barely tolerated the guy and that was more of a survival thing.

"So, kitchen?" Hayley suggested.  "I've got a new microbrew lemonade I'd like your opinion of if you're so inclined."

"I love lemonade," R.J. said, chatting excitably about the different varieties he'd been trying for his pizza place as they settled into the kitchen and Hayley handed bottles and empty glasses around.

"Ok, R.J," Cam poured the lemonade into his glass, still a little surprised that it didn't fizz.  "You need to tell us a little more about what we're facing and how you need to fight them."

R.J. sighed.  "I'll have to swear you all to secrecy.  What you're about to hear isn't even told to Pai Zhuq initiates."

He spoke to them for an hour about Dai Shi and the way of Pai Zhuq.  Once he explained about the prophecy that the imprisonment of Dai Shi would end and that a new team of Pai Zhuq recruits would be required to fight him, R.J. scrubbed a hand over his face, spent.

"So we need something close to the Ninja Storm powers," Hayley said, "working with existing powers for a boost."

"So what animal spirits will the Rangers have?" Cam asked.

R.J. shrugged.  "I don't know."

Cam's eyes narrowed. "How can you not know?  How many different animal spirits are there?"

"How many animal spirits live here on Earth?" R.J. returned.

Cam's jaw dropped. "This is not going to be easy."

"Where's the fun in easy?" Hayley asked.

"How are we going to build zords if we don't know what zords to build?" Cam fired back, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"We don't," Billy said. "There are a couple of Kerovan papers that were just published on creating zords by projecting the Power and human need around the Power and the Ranger-- no metal construction, just thought, pure Power, and a lot of focus."

"So the Power will conform the zords to their animal spirits?" Hayley asked.

"That's not a trivial amount of focus and concentration," Cam pointed out.

"We're talking about fully trained Pai Zhuq adepts, not cubs," R.J. said.  "They'll be able to handle it."

"We're going to have to assign colors according to personality types," Hayley said with a frown.  "That could end up with some bizarre combinations of color and animal," Hayley said.  "Unless your Blue happens to have the spirit of the Peacock."

R.J. looked at her, eyes narrowing.  "Why color code things at all?"

Cam, Billy, and Hayley all stared at him.

"What?" R.J. asked.

"Color focuses the Morphin' Grid energy," Billy explained.  "One person can't do it alone: the energy is split amongst several people calling along a spectrum of Morphin' energy-- the exact energy differs along a core range: that's why there's always Red, Yellow, and Blue Rangers, but the other colors vary somewhat.  If you don't have colors, you don't focus the energy properly.  We might be able to get away with not coloring the zords until the rangers show up, but then we'd have to know what animals to base things on.  Without that?  We HAVE to have the color coding."

"How come there's never purple?" R.J. asked.

"No good reason," Hayley said.

Billy sized him up.  "Wait, you're not going to be red?"

R.J. blinked at him and Cam and Hayley shuddered.

"Red's the team leader," Billy said.

R.J. shook his head.  "I'm meant to mentor the chosen ones, not join them.  I was just curious."

Cam raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"That's just not what I would've expected from you, R.J."

"Cam, I've been exceeding your expectations since we started this.  Why would I stop now?"

"Good point," Cam said.

"Guys, can we stop verbally sparring and get back to business?" Billy asked.

Cam could tell that Billy was suppressing an eye roll.

* * *

Six months later, they were done.  R.J. bounded down the stairs, just missing bumping into Cam and Hayley as they went down to her workshop.

He made a beeline for the box on the work table that contained the morphers.  "These are perfect."

Cam thought they were a little too large and gaudy to pass for ordinary sunglasses but if R.J. was happy, who was he to complain?

Hayley handed Cam the small, wooden box that they'd spent the last month working on.  "There's one more, this one we designed for you."

"I..." R.J. looked at her, taking a step back.  "I told you, I'm supposed to mentor them, not fight with them."

Cam stepped forward, accepted the box from Hayley, and pressed it into R.J.'s hands.  "The last several teams have been teenagers, R.J.  Kids.  And working closely with a Ranger team tends to bring out protective instincts you don't even know you have.  Take it.  Just in case."

R.J. blinked.  "You know, Cam, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were speaking from personal experience."

"Maybe I am.  The other three morphers are all required for the Rangers to form a megazord.  This one isn't, but it will make a more powerful megazord when they're combined with the wolf zord."

R.J. looked into Cam's eyes for a moment, then nodded sagely.  "Thank you."

"Let us know if you need anything else," Hayley said.

"And if anyone asks how you got these, it was a friend of a friend, okay?" Cam said.  "No names.  Just in case."

"Got it," R.J. said.  He placed the box on table, pushing his fist into the   
flat of his palm and bowed.

Cam returned the gesture. "Good luck, R.J. And may the Power protect you."

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about that "I'm not on weed" rant. R.J. insisted. I don't think he likes his rep in the fandom. Also, David DeLatour says R,J. is a vegatarian.


End file.
